Short Summary of “Inchcape Rock” by Robert Southey

ByKirti Daga

The “Inchcape rock” is based on the idiom “you will reap what you sow”, “tit for tat”, “what goes around comes around” and the like. If you sow happiness, you will get happiness and if you sow sadness, you will get sadness indeed. This is in fact the rule of nature.

Inchcape rock near the coast of Scotland is actually the central theme of this essay. This particular rock in Scotland is a huge and perilous rock which can be noticed in hot and sunny days but a ship could meet with an accident with the rock during storms because it is not visible at that time. Now this cat needed to be belled. The Abbot of Aberbrothok hanged a bell on the rock as a result of which the bell ranged continuously till the storm was present and thus the sailors avoided the way where the bell ranged. Sir Ralph the rover, a pirate decided to free the rock from the bell because he used to loot the ships which were destructed as a result of the damages caused by hitting the Inchcape rock.

As the story moves ahead, Sir Ralph grows extremely rich and settles in Scotland. But nature sooner or later pays you for all your wrong deeds. This was also true in the case of Sir Ralph. While he was aboard on his ship, one night the moon was absent. Sir Ralph continuously motivated his sailors by saying that moon light will appear soon and they should not panic. The sailors followed the orders and the ship continued moving. With an unexpected turn of events, the ship hit the “Inchcape Rock” and slowly started drowning in the water. While drowning the sailors and all the people aboard wished that the bell was there on the rock because if the bell would have existed, such a mishap would not have taken place. When Sir Ralph drowns he feels miserable to have removed the bell from the rock because he was himself paying the price of the wrong deed he once committed. What would he now do of the money he looted because he will not be alive to use the money he accumulated by wrong means. Though the bell was not there but Sir Ralph could hear the noise of the bell in his head banging continuously. He felt that the ringing bell was telling him that look you are paying for your own wrong deeds.

This is an essay which is very beneficial for the kids. The kids learn at this tender age only that doing wrong in life will never help them in leading a happy life. They might witness momentary happiness but at the end of the day they will not be satisfied because no one can find happiness by snatching away the happiness of others.